mood prevailed among the galleries and corporate guests. The week was one long party, as much for some of the players as it was the fans. The resort hotels were overflowing, and there was entertainment every night. Attracting Tiger Woods to the Million Dollar for his first appearance in South Africa was a significant coup. He was only 22, and winner of just one major, the 1997 Masters, but already the No 1 golfer in the world. The excitement around his visit rivalled that of rock stars who had performed at Sun City. But he wasn’t the only big gun in the field. Sun City had signed an unprecedented seven of the Top 10 on the World Golf Ranking. There was No 2 Mark O’Meara, who had won the Masters and Open in 1998, No 3 David Duval, and No 5 Ernie Els. Joining them were Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood and Price, ranked between No 6 and 8. The supporting cast comprised Jim Furyk, Jesper Parnevik, Justin Leonard, Tom Watson (a late replacement for world No 4 Davis Love) and Bernhard Langer, who was the lowest-ranked at No 29. The 1990s and turn of the millennium were extremely good years for the Million Dollar. The prize fund eclipsed those at PGA Tour events, so persuading Americans to come all this way at that time of year was relatively easy. There were six of them playing in 1998. The tournament had been boosted by the fact that in local heroes Price and Els we had two of the greatest golfers in our time performing at their best together. These were heady days for SA golf fans. Between 1992 and 2002 Price and Els each won three Million Dollar titles, and David Frost had completed his hat-trick in 1992. Price summed it up when he said the “Million Dollar was my only opportunity during the year to compete against a quality field in my backyard.” He was the King of Sun City during the 1990s. Between 1993, his first victory with a record score of 24-under 264 (he won by 12 shots), and 1998 he never finished worse than third. And in that stretch he also won two Dimension Data Pro-Ams at Sun City. At the 1998 Million Dollar the three- time major champion was eight weeks shy of his 42nd birthday. He set the pace on day one with a 67, and a 68 on day two gave him a one-shot lead over O’Meara, with Westwood and Leonard
Nick Price and caddie Tiger Lekhulene shared three victories at the Nedbank Challenge.
THIS YEAR MARKS THE 25TH anniver- sary of what many believe to have been the greatest Nedbank Golf Challenge of them all. In 1998 the Sun City tournament was regarded as one of the top-rated events in world golf outside the major championships, carrying a purse of $2.5-million to be split between 12 players. It had the strongest field ever in terms of world ranking players, and the galleries and huge TV audience were treated to a five-hole playoff for the title between Tiger Woods and Nick Price. This was the only time Tiger competed at Sun City. There was a record crowd of 52 000 over the four days, nearly 30 000 on the weekend. Sun International, the tournament organisers, worked hard throughout the year to attract the best golfers in the world to their end-of-year 12-man showdown at Sun City which then was still called the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge. It was held in the first week of December, so a holiday
two back on 137. Woods had opened with a 72, then shot 68. The Saturday round saw Price falter with a 72, and 25-year-old Westwood moved into the lead on 13-under after back-to-back rounds of 65-66. He was two ahead of Leonard, and four ahead of Price and Woods, who were drawn together in the penultimate Sunday pairing. And what a pairing that turned out to be as they went head-to-head for the title. Westwood struggled, and it
chip-in birdie from Woods that preceded his more memorable hole-outs at the Masters. Price had his own Tiger with him, Tiger Lekhulene, his caddie in each of his Sun City victories. Tiger recently recalled that final round in 1998. “I remember people going crazy that year. The fans had t-shirts with Nick and Tiger’s name on them. It was funny because every time the fans called ‘Tiger’ I also looked around.
was a three-way contest between Price, Woods and Leonard. One shot separated them at the finish. Price, trailing Woods early on, made a scarcely believable six birdies in a row from the par-5 ninth to the par-5 14th and had his supporters whooping in delight as he moved into a three-shot lead. However, a poor drive on 15 resulted in a bogey, and Woods scented blood. A birdie by him on 17 left him one back. The 18th could not have produced a more dramatic finish, a
IN 1998 THE SUN CITY TOURNAMENT WAS REGARDED AS ONE OF THE TOP-RATED EVENTS IN WORLD GOLF OUTSIDE THE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, CARRYING
A PURSE OF $2.5-MILLION TO BE SPLIT BETWEEN 12 PLAYERS.
36 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 37
NOVEMBER 2023
NOVEMBER 2023
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